In October 2006, a South African gold miner named Thembekile Mankayi sued AngloGold Ashanti, his former employer, stating that he developed the lung disease silicosis while working in Vaal Reefs mine. The lawsuit, filed in the Witwatersrand Local Division of the High Court of South Africa, sought R2.6 million in compensatory damages. Mankayi alleges that AngloGold Ashanti failed to meet its responsibility to provide its employees with a safe and healthy work environment under both South African laws and an employer’s common law duty of care to its employees. AngloGold Ashanti responded that Mankayi is precluded by law from making the claims he set forth in his lawsuit. Under South Africa’s Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), workers or their families may not sue an employer for injury or death incurred at the workplace. Instead, the compensation commission considers these claims. But Mankayi’s claims of AngloGold’s negligence can only be heard in a court of general jurisdiction, not by the compensation commission.
In addition, mineworkers’ lung diseases are covered under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA), which limits a mineworker’s compensation for illness due to working conditions to just a fraction of that awarded under COIDA (plaintiff’s counsel estimates that the payout is about a tenth of what it would be under COIDA). The size of Mankayi’s claim challenges the limitations on compensation under ODMWA. The South African Parliament is currently considering revisions to the law to address the disparity between the remedies available to workers under COIDA and ODMWA.
On 26 June 2009, the High Court of South Africa, Witwatersrand Local Division, issued a decision in this case. The court ruled in AngloGold Ashanti’s favour, holding that Mankayi was statutorily barred from making his claim.
- “Multi-billion rand legal threat to SA miners crumbles”, Allan Seccombe, minigmx.com, 26 Jun 2008
- "South Africa: AngloGold Vs Ailing Worker in Test Case", Chantelle Benjamin, Business Day [So. Africa], 12 Feb 2008
- “AngloGold Ashanti silicosis case postponed to 2008”, Mariaan Olivier, Mining Weekly, 1 Oct 2007
- “Test case against AngloGold approaches”, Allan Seccombe, miningmx.com, 15 Jan 2007
- “AngloGold lawsuit seen as a test case”, Allan Seccombe, miningmx.com, 9 Oct 2006
- AngloGold Ashanti: Exception lodged in respect of case of Thembekile Mankayi upheld, 26 Jun 2008
- AngloGold Ashanti: Report to Society 06 - The legacy of silicosis
- Richard Spoor & Charles Abrahams: [DOC] Press Statement: Precedent setting civil action instituted against Anglo Gold Ashanti Ltd, 9 Oct 2006 [plaintiff’s counsel]
- Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll: South Africa Silicosis [member of plaintiff’s legal team]
- Mankayi v. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.: [PDF] Judgment, High Court of South Africa, Witwatersrand Local Division, 26 Jun 2008
- Mankayi v. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.: [PDF] Summons filed in High Court of South Africa, Witwatersrand Local Division, 9 Oct 2006
